CITY HALL §1 FRANK H. OGAWA PLAZA, 2 nd Floor § OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 94612 Honorable Treva Reid
Councilmember, District 7
Date: June 16, 2022
To: Mayor Libby Schaaf, Administrator Ed Reiskin and City Councilmembers Re: District 7 Budget Amendments and Policy Directives Memorandum 510-238-7007
[email protected]
1 FISCAL YEAR 2022-2023 BUDGET AMENDMENTS
Dear Mayor Schaaf, Administrator Reiskin, and City Councilmembers:
Attached are amendments to the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Mid-Cycle Budget with accompanying policy directives for your consideration.
In the Fiscal Year 2021-2023 Biennial Budget process, I secured funds for programs and strategies that contributed to the positive forward development of our streets, community parks, small businesses, youth and senior services, public health, and public safety. This Mid-Cycle Budget process now offers another opportunity to advocate for additional funding to maintain and enhance City and community programs and services.
These budget amendments come at a critical juncture in our history and society:
• 2.5 years later, we are still working to recover from the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Hundreds of businesses in Oakland have shuttered and many more have suffered job loss • Housing instability and insecurity continue to persist city-wide • Inflation is at an all time high across all goods and services • The unending trauma and cycles of gun violence and other violent crime continue to ravage the City and tear apart communities. Last year we had 134 lives lost to gun violence and other forms of homicide; 134 lives that will never be able to realize their potential and impact in this world
Black and brown communities carry the weight of these generational issues. As elected officials, Oaklanders have entrusted us to ensure that their tax dollars are utilized to keep our communities safe, healthy, and thriving. We must continue to secure funding that will enhance our programs and services and advance solutions that deliver peace and uplift our City’s motto, LOVELIFE.
It is urgent that this Council drive for equity in the budget process, especially as we consider how to appropriately allocate the $8 million in Council Contingency funds as stated in the FY 2022-2023 Mid- Cycle Budget. This will ensure that we are delivering the much-needed resources and solutions that put the needs of our community members first.
Like you, there are endless priorities that I would like to champion, yet the fiscal reality will call on Council to make tough decisions about which issues will need our attention first. To this end, I urge us all to focus on delivering critical and essential City services. As our budget sustains the operation of
2 government citywide, it is my responsibility as the District 7 Councilmember to advocate for my constituents, who have been the hardest hit with a myriad of challenges, facing great disparities and inequities before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In alignment with my office pillars and priorities, I am offering the following budget amendments that will deliver services to our most impacted and vulnerable communities in East Oakland:
Keep Oakland Safe & Protected
• Community Grant: funding to launch a pilot program that would provide safe rides home from extracurricular school activities for participants in the OK Program, from McClymond’s and Castlemont High Schools for the 2023 school year
• Violence Prevention Through Intersection and Traffic Safety: funding for traffic calming installations at several locations in District 7
Keep Oakland Housed
• Community Grant: funding to enhance services at the Youth Spirit Artworks (YSA) Tiny Homes for Transitional Age Youth (TAY) site. We are proud to have YSA in District 7 and are eager to support their efforts to provide even more housing for our at-risk and un-housed youth • Safe RV Parking Site: additional funding to make the Safe RV parking site in District 7, located at 66th Avenue fully operational. This site is currently at half capacity due to a lack of funding • Homelessness Department Discretionary Dollar: to fund eligible expenses for intervention services and support, transitional housing, etc.
Keep Oakland Clean and Beautiful
• Homelessness Intervention Operations: Additional funding for Public Works "clean and clear" intervention operations team and equipment
Keep Oakland Served & Connected
• Community Grant: funding to support Black Cultural Zone’s 3-month community messenger summer 2022 cohort
• Community Grant: funding for food distribution through At Thy Word Assembly, a Ceasefire and Faith in Action Partner
• Community Grant: funding to support Oakland’s Feather River Camp with vegetation management, platform tent repair & replacement, and strategic capacity-building efforts • LOVELIFE Campaign- funding support for the LOVELIFE Campaign Cultural Strategist, citywide outreach and event coordination, street team staffing, LOVELIFE marketing and promotional materials, LOVELIFE week promotional support, and other eligible expenses
Keep Oakland Prioritized
• Community Grant: funding to support the Oakland Starting Smart and Strong Collaborative, that would help to establish a Family Childcare (FCC) Provider Emergency Fund that would help sustain and protect family childcare businesses due to unforeseen circumstances and invest in long-term housing, facilities, infrastructure, and other economic supports for FCC providers • Redistricting Education: funding for an education and awareness campaign for the new district boundaries and representatives, as determined by the 2021 Redistricting Process, including but not limited to town halls, hard copy mailers, social media ads, etc.
3 FISCAL YEAR 2022-2023 POLICY DIRECTIVES
In addition to the budget amendments, the following policy directives are recommended for inclusion in the FY 2022-23 Mid-Cycle Budget:
1) Direct City Administration to investigate the development of a ballot measure to support additional revenue generation for the Oakland Parks and Recreation & Youth Development, a department that has yet to have a ballot measure put forth to the voters for consideration for ongoing support.
2) Direct City Administration to investigate, in the FY 2022-2023 Biennial Budget, a “no-fee” model that would allow low-income residents, particularly youth, the ability use Oakland Recreation Programs at no cost and what would be needed to implement that program. 3) Direct the City Council to allocate one-time funding to the Oakland Starting Smart and Strong Collaborative and directing the City Administration to investigate if this program could be eligible for Measure AA funds in the future by way of a funding partner 4) Direct City Administration to provide an analysis to be included in the upcoming Capital Improvement Project cycle for traffic calming solutions at Mountain Blvd between Keller Ave and 98th Ave, a significant stretch of arterial roadway, that is consistent with both immediate safety needs and planned changes due to the Oak Knoll development.
In summary, these amendments and policy directives reaffirm my continued commitment and advocacy to advance equity by addressing the systemic disinvestment in long marginalized communities, including but not limited to the 66k+ residents I represent in District 7.
We must continue to progress our goals to reimagine and transform our public systems as we still face growing challenges do to the COVID-19 pandemic, gun violence, and lack of access to critical resources and basic needs. This can be done by creating and implementing proven strategies and approaches and ensuring that they are adequately vetted, resourced, and implemented effectively.
The way in which we collaborate to address the needs of our community members through this budget process will determine how we attain a healthy, just, and resilient recovery and realize our collective vision for Oakland - our City that we all love.
I look forward to working with you both, alongside my Council colleagues, to deliver more equitable outcomes and advanced solutions to move East Oakland and the City as a whole forward, in a process that encompasses our shared values and goals for Oakland.
I respectfully submit my budget amendments for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Treva Reid
Councilmember, District 7
CC: Erin Roseman, Finance Director
Bradley Johnson, Budget Administrator #LOVELIFE